Land Reform in South Africa

Illuminating on the subject of land reform projects and processes since 1994. Through their collaboration the authors were able to draw together and reflect upon an unusually wide range of case material, based on their own as well as others’ primary research. Their discussion encompasses redistribution projects in Limpopo, share equity schemes, and a former mission station in the Western Cape, as well as restitution claims on national parks and in urban areas. Individually and collectively, these cases illustrate the dynamic interplay between space and time, structure and agency, policy and politics in particular contexts. * African Studies Review *
The first classic of twenty-first-century geography, this book displays the best in people-place research that lies at the heart of environmental management. Focused on land reform in South Africa, not just farms but game parks and urban areas, the authors capture empirical case material in a historical-geographical materialist perspective. They answer the key question of why so little land reform has taken place from a mature perspective and interpretation of the consent and coercion processes that underlie the adoption of neoliberal agendas in a democratic South Africa. There is a sense of widespread, and intense, political discussion and a celebration of the joy of fieldwork. I wish I had been on that team. This text will become the standard against which work in the global south will be judged. -- Phil O'Keefe, Northumbria University
An important and timely contribution. McCusker, Moseley, and Ramutsindela effectively stitch together diverse insights from across the country, illuminating the key challenges shaping South Africa’s land reform program. Incorporating historical information and current case studies, this invaluable book will benefit anyone with an interest in the geographical transformation of South Africa. -- Alistair Fraser, Maynooth University
Land Reform in South Africa is a very important book. McCusker, Moseley, and Ramutsindela provide a rich historical context for understanding the contradictory land reform and land use terrain in contemporary South Africa. And, they provide an essential reminder that apartheid was a geographic project with racialized land access at its core. -- Daniel Weiner, University of Connecticut